Trial testing cocoa flavanol supplement shows promise for reducing cardiovascular risk (500 mg a day consistently taken reduced cardiovascular death by 39%)

Medical Xpress / Brigham and Women's Hospital / The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition ^ | Mar. 16, 2022 | Howard Sesso, ScD, MPH, and JoAnn Manson, MD, DrPH et al

[ConservativeMind]

The first large-scale trial to test the long-term effects of a cocoa flavanol supplement to prevent cardiovascular disease offers promising signals that cocoa flavanols could have protective cardiovascular effects.

While neither supplement significantly reduced the primary outcome of total cardiovascular events, people randomized to receive the cocoa flavanol supplement had a 27% lower rate of cardiovascular death, a pre-specified secondary endpoint.

More than 21,000 participants were randomized to take daily capsules that contained 500 mg cocoa flavanols (donated by Mars Edge), a multivitamin tablet (donated by GSK Consumer Healthcare), neither or both.

The study found that cocoa flavanols reduced total cardiovascular events by 10%, but this was not statistically significant. First, those receiving the cocoa flavanol supplement had a significant 27% reduction in death from cardiovascular disease. Second, when the study team took adherence to study pills into account (by looking at those taking their study pills regularly), the team saw a stronger, 15% reduction in total cardiovascular events and a 39% reduction in death from cardiovascular disease. Third, a composite endpoint of major cardiovascular events (heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths), although not a trial focus, was also significantly reduced.

A daily multivitamin had no significant effect on total or individual cardiovascular events. There were no safety concerns for either cocoa flavanols or a multivitamin.

COSMOS concluded after about 3.6 years, which was likely too short to detect whether the supplements could have affected cancer risk. Although a daily multivitamin improved levels of several nutritional biomarkers, it had no significant effect on total invasive cancer, the primary outcome for the multivitamin analyses. Cocoa flavanols also had no significant effect on total invasive cancer. The investigators and collaborators are also leveraging COSMOS to study cognitive decline, falls, eye disease, and other aging-related outcomes that may be influenced by the supplements.

[ConservativeMind]

We buy it when it goes on sale, due to that fact.

[steve86]

Yeah, I see it on Amazon for 46¢ / capsule and you definitely need three according to the label to get the 750 mg. Too dear for me.

[nikos1121]

And the best time to take it is before bed

[EQAndyBuzz]

“Why not just eat a little chocolate with over 70% cocoa everyday?”

I do that with 92% cocoa.

[ptsal]

Good advice
Dropped 86 pounds going to keto diet. Back to my college running weight.

[grame]

Can you get this by drinking cocoa made from cocoa powder?

[ConservativeMind]

You need 4.5 tablespoons of Ghirardelli Chocolate Premium Baking Cocoa — 100% Cocoa to get 200 mg of cocoa flavanols, according to Consumer Lab.

That amount also won't push you above cadmium levels set in California.

Other chocolate powders need fairly more servings and come with a lot more cadmium.

[sauropod]

.

[blueplum]

Chocolate - the sixth food group

[xenia]

bk

[grame]

Wow. I drink 1 Tblsp of cocoa every day. Now I’m not sure if it is good or bad. Need to do some research.

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Another reason to love chocolate